Sports Betting Blog

Teasers tend to be extremely popular in the NFL, so popular that many people forget that they’re available in NBA betting as well. You’ve probably come across or heard handicappers and betting websites urging you to avoid NBA teasers. While they’re right for the most part, there is still money to be made is you shop around and understand the spots that will increase your likelihood of winning. As with any type of bet, if you dig deep enough and take the time to understand it, you’ll be able to set yourself up for success. In this article, we’ll take a look at what you should know about NBA teasers and how to succeed when betting on this.

Understanding NBA Teasers

Similar to NFL teasers, the parameters for NBA teasers are ultimately up to the oddsmakers. Instead of the six point teasers commonly seen in the NFL, NBA teasers usually begin at four points and tend to end at five points. Teasers in the range of eight to 10 points are usually referred to as “sweetheart teasers”. Typically, NBA teasers consist of five-point teases.

Example

In this example, we’ll outline how three games look before and after five-point teasers are applied.

Additionally, similar to NFL teasers, there are specific rules as to when pushes count as losses versus pushes.

NBA Teaser Strategy

In order to be profitable from betting NBA teasers, one must exercise patience and shop online for the best lines. Based on historical data all the way back to the 1995 NBA season, we’ve identified situations that offered the most profitable teaser opportunities for bettors. From dating back to 1995, we believe that we have a large enough sample size and data to provide some valuable insights.

Here are some conclusions from analyzing the data obtained from the 1995 NBA regular season onward.

1. When it comes to home favorites, teasing these teams generally aren’t too profitable and should be avoided due to the fact that these teams also tend to be heavy public bets, which drives down the line related to the home team.

2. While home underdogs could potentially provide a lot of value, they’re quite rare and you won’t be able to come across them as often. From our analysis, we’ve identified that home underdogs between 10 to 13 points have been quite profitable. However, these types of lines happen way too infrequently.

3. When it comes to road underdogs, these teams aren’t too profitable as they’re more or less expected to lose and adding points to their spread doesn’t necessarily help much in many instances.

4. In terms of the most profitable situation for bettors, road favorites offer the best chances. From our analysis, we’ve identified that road favorites between nine and 14 points have an excellent winning percentage when five-point teasers are applied.

Since the most frequent margin of victory in the NBA is between five and seven points, by teasing numbers that will get us in this range, we’ll be able to increase our chances of winning. It’s important to select the optimal numbers to tease and take into account the appropriate odds in order to try and derive the most value from the teaser.